The enhanced lockdown imposed in five corporations of Tamil Nadu has come to effect on Sunday as the state has been gripping up its fight against the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to lower the rise of the containment zones, and hotspots.

The fresh directive of the complete lockdown in the urban cities including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, and Tirupur would freeze the entire movement of the vehicles and people by awarding exemptions for extremely essential services and through the lockdown, the respective civic bodies are focusing on strengthening the disinfection work in the corporations. 

According to the reports, the strict embargo has shut down the retail grocery and vegetable stores in five corporations leaving the residents to rely on the wholesale markets as the government aims to refrain the movements of the people to prevent them from the human to human transmitting virus. The patrolling vehicles of police and civic bodies were largely seen on roads in the five urban cities on the first day of the fresh lockdown.

The first day of the strict lockdown, which is reminiscent of Janata Curfew, had turned the streets deserted as the residents locked up in their homes. As far as Chennai is concerned, the city had wakened up to rain and the police department had rolled out extensive check-ups and patrolling in the city and they barricaded the movements of the vehicles to ensure that the riders hit the roads for the valid reasons. However, the reports stated that the residents in North Chennai had reportedly exited their residences leaving the police to issue a stern warning to stay indoors.

The residents of the capital city had been asked to pile up the vegetables through the pushcarts as the retail shops have been closed. With the view of supplying fruits and vegetables, the Greater Chennai Corporation has operated 4,949 pushcarts and 1,182 trucks while the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has operated over 500 vehicles for selling fruits and vegetables across the city.

Despite the prohibitory orders, there have been violations in Chennai as the city police department had, on Sunday, filed 826 cases against the people for violating the lockdown and 543 two-wheelers, 35 light motor vehicles - including cars and 24 auto-rickshaws have been seized. So far, the state police had collected Rs 3.27 crore as fine and seized 2,76,183 vehicles.

According to the fresh directive of the complete shutdown, which was announced on Friday, the state government has ordered to close non-essential retail establishments, which have been enjoying some relaxations amid the statewide lockdown, in the five major corporations to curb the spread of the virus. The lockdown drive in these corporations would only permit the movements of extremely essential services whereas the rest of the districts in the state would continue to have time relaxations. 

The essentials services like hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, Amma Canteens, emergencies, ambulances, ATMs, and Aavin outlets would be functioning normally in these five corporations whereas the residents can order food online from the restaurants and they are not permitted to queue up in the hotels to get their food. Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai would be staying under complete lockdown till April 29th while Salem and Tirupur would be under lockdown till April 28th. During this lockdown, the authorities said that disinfection work would be carried out in all these five cities by focusing more on the containment zones.

Also read: Fresh lockdown order: How panic ended the social distancing in Chennai?